RAMOGE summit on moorings in Monaco Ocean Week

RAMOGE has organised a colloquium, entitled “RAMOGE, for a rational management of moorings,” as part of Monaco Ocean Week. The event will be held on Friday, March 31, at the Oceanographic Museum and the main players in boating in the RAMOGE zone, which includes the French Riviera, Monaco and Liguria, will be welcomed.

One of the most touristic regions in the Mediterranean, the RAMOGE zone is a top destination for yachting, from small to large vessels. Problems differ depending on the coastal zone; in the Liguria region, there are more small pleasure craft, while the coasts of Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur and Monaco are characterised more by bigger yachts.

The use of these coasts continues to increase from year to year, so that this over-frequentation of certain anchorage areas poses a threat to the ecosystems of small algae and rock beds. Intensive and repetitive anchoring degrades the particularly fragile habitats favoured by the posidonia herbarium and the coralligenous.

In view of this challenge, the ROMAGE countries have decided to bring together the managers and users of these zones in order to exchange experiences in order to better manage their specific areas.

Stakeholders and managers in the marine protected areas will testify and share their experiences respectful of the marine environment, both on practices and on mooring techniques.

As part of Monaco Ocean Week, the RAMOGE Agreement and the International Atomic Energy Agency are working together to improve the monitoring and management of benthic microalgae blooms.
The overall functioning and structure of marine ecosystems is strongly conditioned by the behaviour of the first steps in the food chain, and in particular by the microalgae that develop in shallow water and on the hard sediments and substrates of coastal environments.
This issue affects many countries around the world and comes under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14 "to conserve and sustainably exploit the oceans, seas and marine resources".
The two organisations are holding a training session from Monday, April 9 until Thursday, April 12, at the Oceanographic Museum for environment scientists and managers in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Caribbean Regions and Europe. The workshop will reinforce their knowledge of the monitoring of harmful microalgae blooms.
The members of the Agreement will take part to bring their expertise on the surveillance of Ostreopsis ovata, a microalgae present notably in the RAMOGE zone for about fifteen years.
On Thursday, April 12, a free public meeting will hear the prospects for management of harmful microalgae at the regional and global scale. To participate, register with the RAMOGE Agreement Secretariat (contact@ramoge.org or on +377 98 98 42 29).